French ship Vendôme (1651)

The Vendôme was a 72-gun ship of the line of the French Royal Navy, the smallest ship to be classed as a First Rank ship in the French Navy. She was built at Brest Dockyard, designed and constructed by Laurent Hubac. She was nominally a three-decker, but in practice the upper deck was divided into armed sections aft and forward of the unarmed waist, making the upper deck equivalent to a quarterdeck and forecastle.

History
France
Name	Vendôme
Namesake	César de Bourbon, Duc de Vendôme
Owner	French Royal Navy
Builder	Laurent Hubac, in Brest Dockyard
Laid down	1647
Launched	1651
Completed	1654
Out of service	1667
Renamed	Victorieux on 24 June 1671
Fate	Taken to pieces in 1679
General characteristics
Class and type	ship of the line
Tonnage	1,450 tons
Length	150 French feet
Beam	40 French feet
Draught	17½ French feet
Depth of hold	17½ French feet
Decks	3 gun decks
Complement	600 (later 550), +9 officers
Armament	72 guns: 12 × 24-pounder long guns + 14 × 18-pounder long guns on lower deck 14 × 18-pounder long guns + 12 × 12-pounder long guns on middle deck 14 × 8-pounder long guns on upper deck (6 forward of and 8 aft of the unarmed midships section of this deck) 6 × 4-pounder long guns on poop (later removed)
Armour	Timber

Service history

The Vendôme began to go into commission in March 1665, began reconstruction at Brest Dockyard in August 1665, and became flagship of the Ponant (Atlantic) Fleet under chef d'escadre Abraham Duquesne on 29 April 1666.

Disposal

Her name was technically altered to Victorieux on 24 June 1671, but this was not put into practice as she was condemned on 17 July 1671 and she became a careening hulk at Brest until condemned in 1679.

References

• Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 1 1671 - 1870. p. 223. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
• Nomenclature des Vaisseaux du Roi-Soleil de 1661 a 1715. Alain Demerliac (Editions Omega, Nice – various dates).
• The Sun King's Vessels (2015) – Jean-Claude Lemineur; English translation by François Fougerat. Editions ANCRE. ISBN 978-2903179885
• Winfield, Rif and Roberts, Stephen (2017) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1626-1786: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4738-9351-1.
• Vaisseaux de Ligne Français de 1682 à 1780 1